As everyone knows, I was convinced baby #2 was going to come on Halloween. I would have been 38 weeks by then. I was completely prepared to go into labor that night and when I didn't, I started to climb the walls. I had said to so many people that there was no way I could go late because I was already so big. My friend Sarah said I was going to jinx myself by saying that - she was so right!
At my 39 week
appt, the doctor had offered to strip my membranes to try to get something moving. Unfortunately, Nicholas was home with a high fever and absolutely miserable (he was diagnosed with hand, foot, mouth later that afternoon) so I decided to decline. I was so afraid to go into labor and not be home to comfort Nicholas when he was so sick. It was the first time I said to myself that I hope I don't go yet - at which point I figured I would. NOPE! Luckily Nicholas recovered fast but Dan followed right behind him with the high fever and feeling miserable. I once again wished I didn't go into labor and was afraid I was jinxing myself.... but this little guy was holding on for dear life to stay inside for as long as possible.
The doctor had said that if I made it to my 40 week
appt he would strip my membranes or break my water. So as Dan started to feel better, we started to make plans to get my water broken at my
appt that next Monday. That morning we sent Nicholas off to daycare, got the cats situated and loaded up the car with the thought we would go to my
appt and then head straight to the hospital. Not so lucky! The doctor said he couldn't actually break my water that day since there was no medical reason so he would have to follow the normal induction procedure and find me a bed at the hospital. The best he could do was Wednesday 11/17 at 9AM. So we headed back home discouraged, completely expecting to be going in that Wednesday morning.
We spread the word to all our family and friends that we would be heading in on Wednesday for the induction. Sarah's response back was that I would go into labor on Tuesday night. How was she able to predict all this with such accuracy??
Tuesday night at 7:45, as I was laying with Nicholas on the futon, I felt a double pop and thought
hmmmm...... I stood up and walked around his room a bit and nothing happened. I picked Nicholas up to put him in his crib and went straight to the bathroom at which point I was pretty sure I broke my water. I came downstairs to tell Dan and called my parents to tell them I thought they should start heading out this way. Good thing I called right away because by the time they got here, I was having some pretty strong contractions and we headed straight to the hospital.
Once there, the contractions kept getting stronger and stronger. I got
thru triage and got a room pretty quickly. Luckily, I knew from my previous
appt that I was already 4 cm dilated so I was able to get an epidural right away. Man I don't know how people go
thru natural child birth. I swear by the time I got to the hospital, the contractions were already past the point of when I got an epidural with Nicholas.
It was amazing how different this labor experience was compared to giving birth to Nicholas. So many things changed around the hospital. This time we had an ultrasound to ensure the baby was head down - they never did that with Nicholas. They also didn't want to check my progress this time since I broke my water and they didn't want to increase the chance of introducing infection. We found this really
weird since they must have checked me a million times with Nicholas - and I broke my water then too.
When they performed the ultrasound, I had to lay completely flat in the bed. While in that position I started to feel much more pressure. The nurse said that was
weird since I should be feeling more pressure when I was sitting up. We pretty much had to fight with the doctor to convince them to check me at this point and when they did, I was completely dilated!
With Nicholas, I pushed for 4 hours. We went
thru nurse shift changes, had multiple doctors and nurses coming in and out trying to help me push as efficiently as possible. And then since they had to use the
vacuum to pull Nicholas out, we also had a
NICU team in the room. This time around we had one nurse and two doctors. That meant as much as Dan was not interested in holding one of my legs and having a full view of all the 'action' - he had no choice this time.
Unfortunately the 'action' was a bit too much for him at one point and he ended up white as a ghost and hanging over the side of my bed! He recovered quickly though :) And surprisingly had no problem watching Jason's
circumcision the next day.
Jason Scott was born at 1:34AM after 13 minutes of pushing. So from start to finish, my total labor and birth experience lasted about 6 hours. What a difference compared to the 20 hours for Nicholas!
I once again cut the cord since Dan wasn't interested. I also ended up with a small tear in the same place I tore with Nicholas.
All and all it was a great experience and I can't complain at all. Jason scored a 9 on his
apgar scores both times and is doing absolutely wonderful. At his first doctor's
appt 6 days after birth, he had already gained back all but 1 oz of his
birth weight and was measured being 1.5" taller than in the hospital (the nurse said she's much more precise than in the delivery room - who knows!).
After such a quick delivery process, I almost think I could consider a third child. But then I think of those 40 weeks and 4 days of pregnancy and now being home with two kids under two years
old ..... and I realize I am completely content with my family of four. Besides - Dan says he can't handle my hormones going
whacko again :)
So my dynamic duo will forever keep me filled with a busy life, an abundance of laughter, and an eternity of love.... Loach Style!
